is it your intent as the secretary of va to protect the core competency of the va by outsour -- outsourcing some of the other things that served the bog down the system? >> i think your assessment of what is happening at the va is pretty accurate. i think we have learned the hard way and taking too long to make decisions in areas that frankly we don't deserve to be in that business. i think you have identified a few. my only modification if you wouldn't mind is i think i.t. has to be a competency of any organization. we don't want to be in the software and product development business but managing i.t. systems is important. i don't know that outsourcing is the right word. i believe if we are going to serve veterans we need to work with a core group or staff on the core functions. when we stray outside building buildings, doing software development, doing, you know, claims and billing, i do think we should be looking toward private sector solutions or at the minimum private public partnerships where where he can get the competency into the federal government. >> the last question i have is o

six are within the va system. if we don't reach out and do the types of partnerships were talking about and getting everybody involved, there is no way we can adequately address this. we have been outreaching, we are working with several organizations. we have public service announcements, if your group, there's a new group just reached out to called headstrong. the galleon organization. if you have new partnerships you would like us to explore, we are absolutely open to those. >> thank you mr. secretary.foll >> i will have follow up in the next round. you mentioned some of the under utilized boeing 735 and how many were vacant. >> 435. >> thank you mr. secretary. >> thank you i recognize the gentleman from ohio, mr. ryan. >> thank you. it's good to see you again. i appreciate our meeting yesterday. let me say publicly i thinkll what you are doing in your patient centered care area is some of the most exciting stuff going on, not just in the va but in government of really figuring out quality solutions, integrating

the community or by the va. that decision would be based on the results of a local health market analysis, identifying the capacity, quality, and cost of various services at the local va. is the basic premise of this proposal to keep services within the va, subject to availability, quality, and capacity, rather than open the doors more broadly to non-va care? >> let me try to describe it, mr. chairman, a little bit differently than that. first of all, i think you're correct that what we've identified coming out of the 2014 wait time crisis in phoenix was that the va i don't believe had the appropriate management systems in place. and the way i believe that you run a clinical system is, is that you put your clinical urgency first. so if somebody is waiting for a routine examination, that's normal. but somebody shouldn't be waiting if they have a tumor in their chest or they have blood coming out of parts of their body that they shouldn't have it coming out of. that needs urgent care right away. so we are going to

of those, about six are getting care in the va system on 14 are out in the community. i worry most about those that aren't getting the care they need, so this is something that suicide prevention is everybody's problem here and we need to work with community groups, family members, veterans, veterans organizations, to make sure we are getting veterans the care they need. >> there's a lot of important jobs in government but yours may be most important, especially as we look at it on memorial day. >> james: and now a correction to a correction i offered on this program on friday. lastly, we reported on recently declassified documents in which the fisa court admonished the fbi for violations of amendment rights. i made two errors. i fed the website broke the story and that "the new york times" and "the washington post" hadn't covered it. my last attempt at a correction didn't do it justice. in fact it was "the new york times" who first broke the violations in an exclusive published april 28. "the washington post" followed the next day with an article that cited the times

how long does it take the va to do that? >> sarah, since we started the effort and number of correspondence informed generally have been scrubbed. if there is a compelling business need for it, it would remain. we have an ssn number review board that reviews things from the department wide standpoint. i cannot attest right now. i can submit for the record what forms and letters and correspondence dell but as i said in my oral testimony - >> let me ask for the record, did you submit the number of forms and correspondence, the purposes and justifications for the record? because i don't understand why there is a correspondence going out with social security number on it. in fact if you put that then you put the whole number? and the social security numbers being on wristbands. my guess is that everyone in the room has been in the hospital for one purpose or another or to a lab. you get a wristband. i have not seen a social security number on a wristband in medical institution and close to a decade. maybe seven years. white in th

[applause] by the way, the new head of the va in the former head of the va is very receptive to that idea. we intend, we are gaining some credibility for knowing what were talking about and they want our input to make sure the help every vet deserves is as seamless as possible. i am told this by the former secretary of the va. this is an interesting fact, that part of the reason why the pts, i dropped the d. it's not a disorder. it's an injury. who wants to be labeled as someone with the disorder. you're more likely to hire somebody that has an injury, and what was the brilliant point is going to make? [laughter] >> what the government to do. >> right, it turns out vietnam vets are beginning to show symptoms of pts now, after all these years. they been in combat and they come home in the raising their families and they got a job and they retire and now they're going something's wrong. they check into the va because they're exhibiting symptoms of pts and all the sudden you've got a lot of bats heading to the va's of the va has to deal with this. we need to make sure that as many people

when the average citizen hears disabled they have a very specific idea what that means. vaarily low bar for quote, unquote, digs ability. they encourage veterans to classify themselves as disabled on the way out of the military. give you an example. i know guys 80% disabled according to veterans administration but fly for commercial airlines. nobody would look at a commercial airline pilot if you walk to aircraft, pilot an aircraft, you're not 80% disabled. i know a guy 60% disabled regularly runs triathelons. there is massive overcertification of disability in the military. veterans who are disabled, crowded out by people looking for a free ride on the system. melissa: i want to pick out one of the things you said. you talk about how hard it is to get rid of a bureaucratic government worker. if we see our health care system go to single-payer, go over and over again, does it look like the va or does the va have separate problems nationalized obamacare wouldn't? >> the va is the best of a worst construct. the worst construct is government-run system. the va is best you can

secretary, i ask these questions with genuine concern for the future of the va. obviously our driving concern must be to provide the best care to our veterans. however, we don't control costs and ensure the resources this committee provides are used in an appropriate and efficient fashion. we actually hurt our ability to help veterans and deliver top quality care. it comes to mind while we are providing additional resources, we're not seeing what would normally come as the commensurate response from the people who are receiving the services, because of the challenges that the va is having in providing those services efficiently. top quality care is really our top priority. and we need to make sure that we help you deliver on that mission. with that in mind, mr. chairman, it's imperative we discuss a number of key issues including the choice program and the state of the va's electronic health records. after creating the community care account, which includes $9.4 billion in advanced fy '18 appropriations, why does the budget request also include $3.5 billion for th

he said suicide rates among veterans is a health crisis in a top priority for the va. sec. shulkin: thank you. good morning, everybody. few weeks ago the president came over to my office fices to talkmy of about our progress. i only thought it fitting in my 100 days to go to his house to talk about what is happening at va. as you know, the president is so committed to fixing issues for veterans that what he has told me is that it is important that we be open and candid and transparent about where the problems are. that is a businessman, -- as a to fixsman, the only way issues as an organization is to come out and talk about what the issues are. i am a doctor and a like to diagnose things, then treat them. what you're going to hear today is a candid assessment of where with theems are in va, focus of a businessman and his skills of a doctor to help you with that. many of the challenges i'm going to talk about today have been decades in building and a span multiple administrations. this is the time for us to address these chronic problems that have affected veterans and in man

i do get messages from the va. there is a lack of communication overall with the overall transition as veterans go in and out of different health care systems to really understand what are some of the risks. i'm wondering if can you touch upon that. second part of the question is more specifically for the other members of the panel. you mentioned a lot of time today about heroin. but from the statistics of 2016 which are discussing the past year list of drugs among persons age 12 or older, marijuana is 2.6 million, pain relievers are at 2.1 million, cocaine is at 968,000, mda, 839,000, lsd at 664,000, and meth is at 225,000. heroin is pretty low at 135,000. i'm wondering. you talked about it on the last side about separating out that. from these statistics, ate pears that heroin is quite low on the scale. are you doing a disservice? i'd love for you to touch upon that as well. thank you. >> may i take the first question first? >> yeah. and we are going to have to be brief in our answers and brief in our questions. >

the floor to hear everyone, a apologize. there's some notations that troubled me a bit. va is currently eval waiting the elimination of social security numbers from correspondence. i'm trying to find a polite way to word my response on that. it's nice that they're evaluating that. how long's it take va to evaluate that? >> well, sir, since we ban the ssn reduction effort, number of correspondence and forms generally have been scrubbed. there f there's a compelling business need for it, we would -- it would remain. we have an ssn number review board that reviews things from a departmentwide standpoint. i can't attest right now, i can submit it for the record what forms and correspondence still is at. but as i said in my oral testimony -- >> i only have a couple minutes. let me ask for the record tlau do submit the number of forms, correspondence, what their purpose is and justification is for the record because i don't understand why it is in correspondence we're sending out this and we still put the social security number on it and if we put the social surety number we put

coming up at 6:00, the va's explanation for long delays. what a friend of an unclaimed veteran had to say about the masons' ensuing battle. >>> this morning, frederick memorial hospital is once again taking patients after a scare. a common household cleaner was responsible for shutting it them down in frederick, maryland. it started when two men brought a package to the e.r. they said when they opened it, it gave them a tingling sensation. they said the package came to their home. both men are expected to be okay. it's not clear what type of cleaner they were exposed to. >>> police just released a photo of this man who they say is related to the case. back in monuments were written on in permanent marker. encryptic messages include phrases like jackie shot jfk and references to september 11. if you can help identify that man. news4's erika gonzales will have a live report at 5:00 a.m. >>> adam jones is thanking boston fans for their support. remember, he said he was called racist names and someone threw a bag of peanuts at him. he received a

now a va director is apologizing. christin ayers has the story you will see only on "5". >> i just wanted to take a moment and talk to all employees here at va northern california regarding the news story last friday from cbs news in the bay area. >> reporter: tonight, this va director is apologizing. >> that's not my values. that's not the values of this organization. and frankly, that's not what i intended to say. >> reporter: he is talking about what he said to kpix 5 during an interview about allegations of sexual harassment at the veterans administration. we interviewed three women who accused a va supervisor of harrassment as stalking. >> he tried to grope me. um, he tried to kiss me. [ voice shaking ] >> he exposed himself to me and told me i wanted to have sex with him. i just got up and left. >> reporter: when we first told david stockwell about the women's claims he defended the investigative process and said this about employees. >> they can certainly vote with their feet as far as their employment decisions of working for the va

more close-in view from the national institute of drug abuse, and then talk with karen drexler of the va about possible treatments. our first speaker is dan ciccarone, a professor of medicine from california, san francisco, who specializes in community medicine and treating diseases in poverty. he was a leader in the hiv/aids epidemic in the early days. he's going to talk to us tonight, as i said, an eagle-eye view of the scope of the problem. dan? >> thank you, deborah. is there a direction to get the next slide up? the screen is up but not -- >> there it is. >> oh, there we go. so i'm a typical academic and i can't even begin to talk until my slides are up, you know, i'm little lost without them. hi, everyone. dan ciccarone, ucsf. yes, i'm a family community doc, so my perspective is one of trying to see ways to improve community health. i started with the hiv epidemic but found my way to the drug epidemic a few years ago. i'm here tonight to talk about prescription pills, heroin and fentanyl. did the wrong thing again. let's try it again. voila. so i want to go through some epidemiolo

the va says it will pay all of the mason's outstanding bills. coming up tonight on news 4 at 6:00, the va's explanation for the long delay. and what one friend of an unclaimed veteran had to say about the mason's battle. >> and that was jody fleisher reporting. >>> get ready for another release from mega star beyonce. can you handle it? you may want to start saving. when we come back we'll tell you about the coffee table book that might cost more if you're a writer, blogger, poet or interested in literary arts this event is perfect. the festival of literary arts is back today lasts through may 13th. tons of events to check out in the maryland area thanks to the prince george's arts and humanity council. sessions with writers, activities for children and a whole lot more fun. search in our app for more information and it's free. so if you're out and about attending the event don't forget to tag us in your queen b. will be going away while she gives birth to her twins but fans can get a fill of a 600 page coffee table book, aaron. >> what does tha

my answer was follow through the process in the va if you don't think it's fair, logically, you have two things you can do if you say the entire system built isn't fair. you can go outside of that system and try and find remedy, or you can exit the system. >> reporter: now stockwell is changing his tune. >> i actually called my wife and said look at this news article that had he just portrayed -- they just portrayed, what do you think? and she said if i heard that from my boss, i would be offended as well. >> reporter: connie swafford was offended. >> who says that? >> reporter: this person says she was offended, she was shocked after seeing the apology. quote he meant what he said the first time. he was made to apologize. christin ayers, kpix 5. >> the va issued this statement saying quote allegations of harassment and assault are considered very serious by management and must be addressed. va northern california healthcare system does not tolerate the mistreatment of employees, male or female, and will take appropriate action on all allegations. the full statement is available on ou

they have earned in the uniform of the united states. if a va clinic or hospital can't give you the best healthcare you deserve in real time we'll give you the opportunity to go across the street and get the healthcare that you need and the president just signed a bill that will do just that. [ applause ] i can tell you first-hand, president trump is a man of his word and man of action. this president is a strong leader, he's putting america first each and every day. he's defending our veterans and taking a strong stand for america's rightful place as the leader of the free world. he's been fighting every day since the outset of this administration to give our armed forces the resources and the support they need to accomplish their mission and come home safe. the president's leadership was on full display at the end of the week. if you didn't notice it, president trump actually managed to sign into law legislation that in the balance of this fiscal year will increase defense spending by $21 billion. [ applause ] this is the biggest investment in

we've already seen the slides before so i won't go into much detail but the va is not alone. nationally we have been making progress and yet, overdose does continue and this is a complicated picture that the doctor helped to discern for us of these intertwined epidemics. as was pointed out, patients who are prescribed opioid long-term are at greatly increased risk for developing heroin addiction. let's flip back to my patient, the nurse. but her physician told her, no more prescriptions she turned to the illicit market and when she came to me for treatment, i talked with her about. [inaudible] i explained to her the mechanism of action and took the approach that we were advocating systemwide. treatments, just like should be patient centered, evidence-based and life-sustaining and empowering the patient to be a partner in their care, not a passive recipient of care. it also needs to be accessible to those who need it. for patient centered care, it begins with shared decision-making. the patient is the expert on his or her life and hopefully, clinicians are experts on the entire

this is a problem we have been working on tackling for years and the va is already taking real strides to get the veterans better care, shorter lines and more peace of mind. over in the senate, our colleagues continue to discuss the path forward on keeping our promise to repeal and replace obamacare. and lastly, yesterday the president signed the 14th congressional review act resolution to stop president obama's last regulatory onslaught of last year. up until this year, congress had successfully just repealed one regulation under this law. now, just this year already, we have done it 14 times in a matter of months. we have much more to do to end government's culture of overreach and overpromise but this is a promise kept to grow the economy and the jobs. it is by no means complete. every day here we are working to advance our agenda and address the problems that americans face in their every day lives. questions? phil? >> mr. speaker, earlier this week senator mcconnell said we could do with a little less drama from the white house on a lot of things saying basically undercut or hampe

to the veteran. va doesn't acknowledge they made the mistake, nor does va openly disclose to veterans that they owe them financial compensation for any health care costs they would have incurred because of va's mistakes. neil: you know, i owhere was a provision built into the new va budget under president trump, a budget by the way that raised 6%. some subsets of that budget were cut, for injured veterans, et cetera, but bottom line, the voucher went up that amount, but there was supposed to be built-in safeguards and protections for guys like but but the agency seems to be ignoring them, maybe ignoring guys like you. can you explain what is going on? >> i'm glad you asked that question, neil. since i was on your show last, va has moved towards firing me or reprimanding me and other whistle-blowers to push us out of va so we can't disclose wrong-doing and harms to veterans. as you know the president issued his executive order. in the spirit of cooperation i received an email from people representing the

i was just wondering, i do get messages from the va. it seems there is lack of communication at the overall transition as they go in and out of different health care systems to understand what are some of the risks. i was wondering if you could touch upon that. you mentioned a lot of time today about heroin. from the statistics of 2016 which are discussing drugs among persons age 12 or older, marijuana is a 2.6 million pain relievers in general are at 2.1 million. it is about separating if heroin problem from overall pain relievers. from these statistics it appears it is quite low on the scale and maybe just doing a disservice, i would love for you to touch upon that. thank you. >> okay. may i take the first question first? >> yes. we are going to have to be brief in our answers and brief in our questions. >> okay. >> so i'll be as sas possible. i would like you to google department of va. we are a huge organization and we do have a huge care management program we also have programs for education and employment. please reach out to us an

coming up on news4 at 6:00 the va's explanation of the delay.what a friend of an unclaimed veteran had to say about the masons' ensuing battle. >>> we want to get you caught up on the morning commute. >> here's melissa mollet with a look at the beltway. what's going on there, melissa. >> chopper 4 over top of the beltway. this is the outer loop there showing us, sadly, normal delays. the rest of the beltway, fine at 295. looking slow. 70 after 32, we have a crash there seeing delays heads out of frederick county. northbound 29 before sudley alternating between a crash there. right side blocked by a crash. 66 and 95 looking typical. we'll take a look at travel times for you prince george's county also looking normal here this morning. taking a look, top of the beltway, all of those routes are just fine. live look. shady grove road looking. and 270 looking okay. top of the beltway. a little slow, chopper 4 just showed us. inbound on 66 and remember to listen to wtop 102.5 fm when you hop in the car. hi, chuck. >>> good morning. sun came up eight m

up a program that allows vets to call a number to see if they're eligible for medical care outside the va. but the scammers have come up with a phony number that looks like the real thing. they are using this to get personal information. first, the u.s. government will never ask for financial information. second, write down the real numbers for the veterans choice program. >>> farmers in california say they are facing a labor shortage and they blame it in part on president trump. as the harvesting season approaches, they say the administration's immigration crackdown is making things worse. in ventura county, most crops can only be picked by hand. finding migrant crews to do the work is incrng about building a wall, there's a lot of those neighbors who felt comfortable coming before now don't feel comfortable so they are not coming. >> fibers are having to increase incentives like better wages and benefits. the added costs could add up to higher prices at the checkout line. >>> controversy over a confederate statue leads to arrests in virginia. >>> president trump praises a fallen officer

coming up at 6:00, the va's explanation for long delays. and what one friend of an unclaimed veteran had to say about the masons' ensuing battle. >>> a serial killer confessed to killering a man. he stabs a man eight years ago. since then, he's been linked to five murders across four states. he is serving life without parole in michigan. he recently confessed to leesburg detectives in exchange for immunity. >> for his life. >> and just to know he's the one? >> knowing he's the one and has the answers i've been looking for. >> prosecutors do not know why he killed lane, they think he may have had >>> tantrums and throwing toys. the trouble that this maryland couple is facing after their videos went viral. >>> plus, a public apology for an oriole. the red sox nation said sorry for a fan's racist rants but now new tensions are boiling over for usiness back? say goodbye to slow downloads, slow backups, slow everything. comcast business offers blazing fast and reliable internet that's over 6 times faster than slow internet from the phone company.

who come into contact with the va. with the new va medical center direct he's an acting director eight this point lawrence connell and they let him have it basically. these were people who said when they hear their dirty storage areas that are supposed to be sterile, there's dirty equipment and a shortage of surgical supplies that's just not acceptable. here now the director and before him some of the people who were complaining last night at this town hall. >> this is what he put over my husband's port on his arm. i mean -- this is just unbelievable. you don't do this to veterans. >> in addition to removing the former medical center director, three d.c. va medical for acquisition, storage and distribution of inventory have received proposd removals. >> reporter: so you see there have been some jobs lost. the top person here at the va hospital has been changed. mr. connell now the acting director. he said to the town hall last night the people gathered that no patients were harmed despite some of the examples that he h

they deserve this honor. >> reporter: the assistant director of d.c.'s vahired using a contract procedure. he wasn't sure why procedure was not followed but it would be followed going forward. jody fleischer, i 4 team. >>> we have video coming out of chicago. a school bus aide hits a little girl twice on her ride home from school. it happened last week. this bus aide is off the job as police investigate. the girl's father says he's flabbergasted at the aide's response. he says his daughter has autism and has trouble communicating her words. >>> turning to the system that devastated parts of the south and washed out your friday, today the secretary of agriculture got to see the flood damage in arkansas firsthand. this is what the town pocahontas looked like wednesday afternoon. two children were among the seven people who died in arkansas from this system. today secretary sonny purdue promised the state the full support of washington. >>> just incredible scenes there. >> absolutely. they're still under flood warning through tomorrow evening. so they received

seventy twoing the va care through the course of the campaign. we don't know specifically what he's there to announce, if anything, today. >> the va certainly has been a controversy, as well. >>> 6:10, new environmental policy gaining steam across california, now city leaders in berkeley are considering it, what it means for restaurants in berkeley. >>> questions about airline safety, as united airlines is being accused of flying planes that should have been grounded. >>> we had rain overnight, yes, not a lot. we have a combination of low clouds and some higher clouds, but there's breaks in the clouds so a little sun in the wednesday forecast. >>> >>> welcome back to mornings on 2. the time, 6:13. today a jury in san jose is scheduled to begin deliberating the sentence for the man convicted of killing morgan hill teenager sierra lamar. garcia-torres was sentenced to either life in prison or given the death penalty. the prosecutor argued for the death penalty saying garcia- torres forever silenced lamar when he killed her five years ago. but the d

. >>> lawmakers are demanding answers about a proposed medical experiment on dogs at the los angeles vaical center. the experiment involves giving 18 dogs antidepressants or meth. they will then kill the dogs to test the bodies response. one lawmaker said no federal agency should be doing this and if true, he said that the dogs are being abused. some members are congress are demanding to know more about the experiment. >> when you look at the va's documents, they talk about observational studies of the dogs. that's different than injected them with meth and dissecting their brains. >> the va said they are reviewing the lawmaker's letter and will decide how to respond soon. >> still to come, an investigation is underway to determine how a northern california college student died. up next, the memorial that is growing a distance from where her body was found. >> a cal rugby player left paralyzed after the game. >> he has tremendous heart and drive. he can handle it >> we have more coming up on ktvu news right after the break . >>> welcome back to ktvu news, all of the news, weather and in

. >> to come to his house to talk about what's happening at the va. you know, the president is so committed to fixing issues for veterans that what he has told me is that it's important that we be open and candid in transparence with problems. you have to come out and talk about what those problems are. as you know, i'm a doctor and i like to diagnose things, assess them, and treat them. what you're going to hear today is really a candid assessment of what our problems are in va with the focus of a businessman and the skills of a doctor to be able to help you with that. as you know, many of these challenges i'm going to talk about today have been decades in building. this is the time for us to address these problems that have affected veterans and in many ways have harmed veterans and their families by not dealing with these issues. i'm going to tackle these issues head-on. just give you a sense of what we're doing today, i'm going to talk about 13 areas of significant risk for va. it is going to take about 25 minutes to get through, so if you need to

we have been in with the va ig about this and we've been assured that they're looking into it. you aware of any of his concerns about integrity and quality of the construction that is ongoing? i know it's not your direct responsibility, but are you aware of any problems? have they been brought to your attention? >> just recently working with your staff in preparing for this we became aware of some. we've had a very good relationship from the facility. in fact, we have a team that works for the medical center, so works for my office that interfaces, and that's the full job is to interface with the construction folks in central office for va. our project is managed by the va office of construction and facility management because it was prior to that other regulation. i can tell you we have daily conversations, my staff do, with the cf staff in managing the project and myself and my associate director have weekly and monthly meetings with our staff. at this point we have no concern at any serious issues in this project either moving forward, either in quality. i can tell you i ser

no. >> reporter: so the tennessee valley va teams up vets with veteran nashville songwriters bob regionstars like keith urban, blake helton and billy ray cyrus. >> we kind of blow right past the therapeutic boundaries right from the first. calm me anytime. ♪ >> reporter: regan founded operation song to help these vets find their harmony. >> we make to feel to save someone's life. a guy went, here's one. then another hand went up then another. and i cried. ♪ >> reporter: most here have been divorced. and many here consider taking their own lives. >> they don't know what went wrong. and if the world needs people to stay here and not end their lives. >> reporter: as sadly 20 veterans do each other. >> i've got something to look forward to again. >> reporter: so the va brings them together to write their own new ending. ♪ >> reporter: and the veterans of operation song keep coming back. ♪ >> music is naturally disarming. they recall more effortlessly the memories and the feelings and the triggers. >> reporter: we watched danny write and write. >> when i come here, it's lyrical bombing. ♪ ♪

the success we completed an fda trial, the exoskeleton is now available to veterans through the va. we demonstrated what was thought to be impossible, a paraplegic has fundamentally been able to stand and walk again. i was honored to be the first paraplegic to walk around the statue of liberty using the exoskeleton and it was in april of 2015 that for the first time since the accident i was able to stand with mary by my side for the national and some in russell, tennessee. i will never take for granted the little things in life, little things like being able to get out of bed in the morning, use the bathroom in less then two minutes or the ability to climbed three steps to knock on a neighbor app store or stand and hug my wife and kids. these had been lost to me but some of them i'm getting back. as you saw in the video this past october i was able to walk my beautiful daughter down the aisle. here is where i can't make contact because i will get tearful. i will stare right here. ask me for advice, a traumatic event, i offer the following. trust in the lord, it is a gift. get up ever

lou: the va scandal. the problem is we can keep going with those scandal. all of them. >> that's right. and here's the thing, lou, that bothers me. is you hear the media and the democrats talking about collusion between trump or his campaign and russian government officials. and that obviously if they -- if there was collusion to commit some type of offense, that obviously would be an issue. but even james clapper, even democrats who have looked at any of these intelligence, there's not one bit of evidence that there was any collusion. whereas all the other things you cite, we know that there were things that went wrong. there were va bureaucrats who were manipulating the wait list in order to deprive veterans of their care, and they outlined their pockets. the irs, obviously massive targeting scandal. so "fast and furious." all of those things, there was major fire there, and you still didn't have anything. here, the media will put up smoke and my view is, look, if you have evidence of collusion, put it forward. but so far, we have z lou: and we're talking

the red on this map shows the va ca nt apple. on this map shows the vacant shopfront in new york city. when they close, they take jobs with them. clothing stores have been shedding jobs for the last three yea rs shedding jobs for the last three years and over role, the us economy has lost more than 90,000 retail jobs since october, 2016. it is a story repeating itself across the us. this is what is left of the hudson valley molk in our state new york. the empty stores so the demise of the american shopping centre. it is at lunchtime and i in the food court. normally, it would be really busy but as you can see it is rather quiet. this is what happens when the big department stores lead, they ta ke big department stores lead, they take their customers with them. in the last two years, jcpenney and macy's are closed their doors. the future of sears is looking rocking. independent kiosks become collateral damage. the mole is getting a little bit slower. —— the shopping. damage. the mole is getting a little bit slower. -- the shopping.

other than nutty lefties which i think we all know who think spending is great and i present amtrak, the va hospital and every other thing the government does has gone over budget. people spends their own money for efficiently and effectively than the government. they are all about feel good, spend money we don't have. if we allow more people to keep their money, the government gets less money. countries that spend less percentage of gdp do better in terms of gdp per capita. is there not one company that ranks above us on per capita on gdp that spend more than we do in total spending. whether it's anecdotal or academic, spur the growth. dagen: it was rough mid-week but rough rebound. investors are sending the message to republicans to get with it and cut taxes. >> there is an expectation this should come to fruition. people recognize the u.s. tax code is outdated. it's not just how much we pay, it's how much time and resources we spend in complying with the tax code. when we reduce the corporate tax rate workers win because workers peso many of those dollars through the corporate tax scheme

. >>> lawmakers want answers about a medical experiment on dogs at the los angeles va medical center.the experiment reportedly involves giving 18 narc leaptic donor mans antidepressants. they are euthanized and studied to see how the drugs affect the production of histamines. now it is unclear if the experiment is already underway or was simply approved to go forward but one u.s. lawmaker says no federal agency should be taking part in an experiment like this. in a letter to the veterans affairs mark ibanez spector general some members of congress are demanding to know more about the experiment. >> when you look at the va's documents that they've publicly released they talk about observational studies of these dogs. that is very different than infecting them with methamphetamine and dissecting their brains. we want to know if there was some purposeful misleading of what was being shown to the public. >> the va says it is reviewing the lawmaker's letter and will decide how to respond soon. >>> coming up, job killers or creators? what experts say about the threat of robots replacing ame

secretary shulkin of the va will also be traveling this week to commemorate va research week speaking at the brain trust pathways event in boston on wednesday. this event brings together public and private experts in research, treatment and prosthetics and id and other specialties to focus on new and innovative ways to support veterans coping with the effects of dramatic brain injury and head trauma. the state department had a few briefings today on the next step in addressing the assad regime and the horrors it is committed on the syrian people. the trump administration believes syria's lyrical future should be designed by syrians in a free, credible and transfer process. we believe in a free process it's unimaginable the series will choose to continue under the assad leadership. syria will never be stable and secure as long as assad is imparted the assad regime sought to a new level of depraved and it is denser with similar and additional support from russia and iran. for these reasons we continue to support the political transition process contained in you and security resolution 2

the premiums. it depends on who you ask. >> edward lawrence on capitol hill. thanks. >> 4:47. military veterans sounded off last night at a town hall about problems at d.c.'s va hospital. this comes after a report from the inspector general that documented unsanitary storage room and missing supplies theate facility. >> i brought this because i want to show what kind of bandage was put on the on my husband's arm. this is just unbelievable. you don't do this to veterans. >> the new hospital director said changes have been made. va secretary david shulkins testified before congress yesterday and vowed to improve services at the va. >>> this morning a montgomery county school resource officer is being praised for stopping a possible attacked. the officer spotted 18-year-old mario eduardo from walking in with a black bag and he drove off. police found the rifle and loaded magazine when they searched the trunk. news 4's megan mcgrath is live. >>> the montgomery county principal who set up a smash space for teachers is stepping down. barbara is leaving the kensington parkwood school at e recent events have been a distraction. a smash space was a place on the school

scandalsultiple involving the resources whether overs the billion dollar budget, va hospital in colorado, hospital projects awarding of bonuses of people who didn't it.rve massive disability claims. the system thein worse it got. main message is that, money v.a. solve the problems at the v.a. needs reform. they need to change how they deliver healthcare. needs to provide more accountability for its employees. it's almost impossible to fire or really discipline an employee guilty of misconduct or poor performance. this is something the v.a. as atary has identified problem. can'tample, he decided he fire v.a. employee which spent 60 days in jail. of v.a.e other stories employees committing similar crimes and whether it's armed robber in puerto rico. the current law does not allow fired for aes to be lot of misconduct. that is unfortunating. changed.s to be if you don't have accountability in the system, there's not an incentive to do the right thing and disincentive to do the wrong thing. host: let me share with you some of the reforms the department is at.ing it's called the veterans choi